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Abstract
Blood contacting medical devices are a commonly used tool in the healthcare setting to address diseases related to cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary and many other physiological systems. Contact between blood and typical surfaces used in medical devices, however, often causes complications such as clotting, and can provide an avenue for bacteria to proliferate inside the body and cause infection. Typical treatments for medical device complications usually involve the systemic administration of anticoagulants or antibiotics, but these procedures can have broader negative effects beyond the targeted area. In order to achieve efficacious medical device implementation while avoiding downstream negative consequences, efforts have been made to modify the materials used in blood-contacting applications to make them more biocompatible. One such effort is the use of nitric oxide releasing surfaces. Such a surface provides antithrombotic and antimicrobial effects but is not resistant to non-specific fouling from proteins. This work investigates the application of antifouling polymer brush coatings to nitric oxide releasing surfaces to improve their biocompatibility.